City Hall
Two oxycodone medicine bottles, with one on its side with pills spilling out

SF Criticized for Lack of Community Input on Opioid Settlement Funds Use

01.09.2025
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A coalition of addiction experts and treatment advocates is commending the San Francisco Department of Public Health for committing some of the $352 million opioid lawsuit settlement funds the city expects to receive over the next 18 years to expanding methadone treatment and addressing racial disparity in fatal overdoses.

“These efforts are instrumental in reaching underserved individuals,” the San Francisco Treatment on Demand Coalition wrote in a November letter to the department.

But the coalition criticized the department over its lack of transparency and community input.

Health
A man wearing dark clothing stands behind a table with syringes and trays of other medical supplies. The words "THIS SITE SAVES LIVES" above "ESTE SITIO SALVA VIDAS" are painted in blue in large letters high on the wall behind him.

Overdose Prevention Centers — Nonstarter in SF, Despite Success in NYC

10.16.2024
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San Francisco officials appear to have abandoned efforts to open facilities where people can consume drugs under supervision — even as more cities adopt the model to prevent deadly overdoses.

Recent studies show that overdose prevention centers save lives, keep people from consuming drugs in public and do not lead to increased crime.

Health

Las Muertes por Sobredosis entre los Mayas en San Francisco Muestran la Necesidad Urgente de un Tratamiento Culturalmente Sensible

04.16.2024
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Desde el comienzo de la pandemia del COVID-19, los mayas de San Francisco han estado muriendo por sobredosis de drogas a tasas elevadas. Los expertos dicen que se necesitan servicios de salud más capacitados, y los proveedores deben ser culturalmente competentes y capaces de comunicarse de manera efectiva con estos residentes, que no pueden hablar con fluidez inglés o español.

“Civic” Podcast
Aurelia Ramirez walks by tents and debris along Folsom Street.

Overdose Deaths Swell Among SF’s Maya Residents, Highlighting Urgent Need for Culturally Competent Drug Health Services

04.10.2024
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Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, San Francisco’s Mayans have been dying of drug overdoses at elevated rates. More robust health services are needed, experts say, and providers should be culturally competent and able to communicate effectively with these residents, who may not be fluent in English or Spanish.

Law & Justice

Proveedores de Servicios Exigen Acceso a Reclusos Latinos

03.08.2024
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La falta de programación en español es un problema crecientemente grave ya que el encarcelamiento de latinos ha aumentado desde el lanzamiento el junio pasado de una ofensiva policial contra las drogas en los vecindarios de Tenderloin y sur de Market. • Read in English: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/service-providers-demand-access-to-latinx-jail-inmates

Health
A woman with short, platinum blonde hair wearing glasses and a T-shirt printed with the words "Heath Justice for All" speaks into a microphone at a podium where she is standing near a woman and two men, all wearing white lab coats, in front of a red wall.

Drug Policy, Addictions Specialists Oppose Prop F Tying Welfare to Drug Tests

02.26.2024
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Numerous drug policy experts and addictions specialists from across the country — as close as UCSF and as far away as Rhode Island — publicly oppose a San Francisco ballot measure that would compel adult welfare recipients to undergo drug screening before collecting cash benefits.

And efforts to publicize the measure have brought practitioners who don’t always agree about addiction treatment practices to the same side of the debate.

Public Safety
A woman wearing a long-sleeved, gray top and wearing her dark hair pulled back in a bun stands at a podium speaking into a microphone. Another woman appears in the frame seated behind her. This image is a screen-grab from a TV broadcast, and there is a green banner across the bottom of the frame with the following text: "Sheriff's Department Oversight Board" above "4: Presentation From the Re-Entry Community"

Service Providers Demand Access to Latinx Jail Inmates

02.09.2024
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Spanish-language programming at San Francisco’s County Jail has since become virtually non-existent as routine lockdowns caused by staff shortages have made it practically impossible to hold classes. Even while deputies work mandatory 16-hour shifts, there aren’t enough of them to escort people who administer rehabilitation sessions and other training programs into the jails.

On Feb. 2, numerous social service providers for the Latinx incarcerated population implored the Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board during its monthly meeting to help them gain access to the jail.

Overdose Crisis
Several people stand in front of an evergreen tree covered in small white lights. They are holding vertical white banners displaying lists of people's names in colorful letters. Other banners are spread on the ground in front of them. A woman with shoulder-length gray hair wearing a black coat addresses the crowd speaking into a microphone on a stand.

2023 Is San Francisco’s Deadliest Year on Record for Drug Overdoses

12.20.2023
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Last Thursday San Francisco’s chief medical examiner released the city’s updated overdose death count — 752 so far — making 2023 the worst year on record for drug-related fatalities. One-third of those people were listed as having no fixed address. Later that day, a crowd gathered at Civic Center Plaza to remember more than 420 who died in the city while experiencing homelessness this year.

“Civic” Podcast
A young Latina with straight, long dark hair wears a lilac top and a jean jacket. She is smiling standing on a sidewalk near the intersection of a city street.

SF Students, SRO Residents Train to Reverse Drug Overdoses

12.05.2023
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Experts in overdose prevention say many teen and adult lives could be saved if more people know how to identify and respond to overdoses. In San Francisco, an array of programs are providing overdose response training to teenagers, college and medical-school students, and residents in neighborhoods that have a high rate of overdose deaths.

Overdose Crisis
Two women are speaking to each other at a protest rally on a plaza outside of San Francisco City Hall. They are Supervisor Hillery Ronen, who holds a pink sign that reads "We Love Marginalized Communities," and Vitka Eisen, CEO of HealthRight 360, who holds a sign that reads "Harm Reduction Works." They are both wearing jeans and black T-shirts. Many of the people standing around them are similarly dressed.

City Officials Lack Urgency to Prevent Overdose Deaths, Say Safe Consumption Proponents

11.03.2023
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Several weeks after a crucial legal hurdle blocking safe consumption sites in San Francisco was seemingly resolved, proponents said they were dismayed that city leaders and public health officials were still not greenlighting centers that could reduce deaths related to drug use.

Overdose deaths have reached 620 this year — on track to have the highest annual tally since counting began, with fentanyl causing the vast majority of fatalities, according to the chief medical examiner’s latest report.